One Phone Call
by DariaMorgendorffer03
Summary: LBD. Take place at the end of Episode #84. Seeing Lizzie in distress, Darcy starts to put plans into action to help anyway he can. Rated T for language and sexual topics.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all! Long time FF reader, but I've never posted anything (although I do write a lot). Anyways, yesterday's and today's events (Ep. #84) nudged me to go ahead and start this fic, like all LBD fan-fiction, the risk of canon-balling is rather high. I always appreciate constructive feedback, so reviews, from impressions to pointing out typographical errors are welcome.**

**I do not own Jane Austen's **_**Pride & Prejudice**_** nor do I own the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. I'm just here to have a little fun. :)**

Ch. 1

"Darcy…"

At the sound of Lizzie's unusually feeble voice, he turned instinctively, looking once more into the eyes of the woman who continued to blow him away. Even in moments of distress.

"Thank you," said Lizzie, her voice trembling with emotion and sincerity.

"There'll be a car downstairs for you in five minutes." He gave her a curt nod as a farewell, and walked purposefully back to his office. En route, he took out his phone and called the limo service that he and the company used whenever important guests were in town, such has his Aunt Catherine or occasionally Bing and Caroline. Fortunately, they typically had a flexible schedule for this time of day, and fortunately, the name of William F. Darcy does make things more expedient at times.

Just as Darcy finished making sure Lizzie had a ride to the airport, he arrived at the desk of Ms. Reynolds, his father's—and now his—personal secretary.

"Ms. Reynolds, I have some urgent matters that require your attention."

Ms. Reynolds looked up from her screen, failing to mask a look of surprise at the sound of urgency and barely restrained emotion from her boss. "Yes, sir, of course. Just tell me what you need," she replied in a sweet, motherly voice.

Darcy took a deep breath, and rattled off the mental plans he had made thus far. "First, I need you to reserve a flight from SFO to Fresno for this evening. Find the first flight you can starting in…" Darcy checked his watch, and resumed, "45 minutes from now. Make the reservation for Miss Elizabeth Bennet, business or first class preferably, but get her on the next flight. Use my personal account information rather than the company funds. Then, please make arrangements for a town car to pick her up in Fresno to take her home. Once these arrangements have been made, call Miss Bennet with her flight information and town car reservation. Oh, and afterwards, please cancel my meetings for the rest of the day. Once you have completed all these tasks, please come into my office."

Ms. Reynolds wrote notes feverishly, not daring to question any of the instructions she was given. The young Darcy was just like his father, always considerate and looking out for the people he cared about, even if it happened to be a graduate student who was merely shadowing Pemberley.

Darcy strode into his office and shut the door. He leaned against the door for a moment and closed his eyes. _How could things have gone so terribly wrong? _he thought. _Just when things with Lizzie were going so well, George Wickham had to crop up and ruin everything._

He took a deep breath, and opened his eyes. No use in dwelling on that just yet, there were still things he needed to do for Lizzie. He pulled out his phone again, and scrolled through his contacts until he reached the L's, stopping at Lu, Charlotte. He hit the call button and waited.

"Greetings from Collins & Collins, you have reached Charlotte Lu. How can I be of service to you today?"

Despite the severity of the situation, Darcy repressed a snort. He had an inkling that a certain Ricky Collins required all employees to answer the phone in this manner, perhaps explained loquaciously in a Better Living video.

"Hello, Charlotte. This is William Darcy."

"Mr. Darcy! This is a surprise."

"Yes, well…to be candid, I was in the room with Lizzie when you called her fifteen minutes ago. I'm actually surprised that I was able to reach you now…I thought she might have called you back."

"No, she hasn't called me back yet. I think she's trying to get a hold of Jane, who has been just as hard to reach as Lizzie today."

"Ah, I see."

There was a brief pause, and after a few moments, Charlotte tried to pick up the thread of the conversation. "So…what can I do for you Mr. Darcy?"

Darcy ran a hand through his hair, sighed, and replied, "Oh, yes, my apologies. I wanted to know if you were planning to return home to help Lizzie and her family."

"Well, that depends on Lizzie at the moment, since I drove her to San Francisco…."

Darcy interrupted her, "You do not have to worry about Lizzie's arrangements, she is already on the way to the airport, and her flight is being booked as we speak."

"Wow, okay…" replied Charlotte, clearly taken aback by the speed of these arrangements. "Well, as I was going to say, regardless of what Lizzie may have needed from me, I have to wait until the weekend officially starts before I can travel home. We just got back from our company retreat. And while I think Mr. Collins would sympathize, we already have two meetings with Ms. de Bourgh, one scheduled today and the other Friday afternoon."

"Ah, yes," replied Darcy. "I am aware how my aunt can be quite demanding of one's time. Nor would I imagine that you would want to alert her to the reasons why you would be absent from those meetings."

"Exactly. So I'll be heading back Friday night."

"Well, I have a request, if you are willing. Before traveling home, would you make a detour to San Francisco first?"

"Um…why do you ask?"

"As I already informed you, I made sure Lizzie was able to return this evening. However, as she was unable to pack and she is unlikely to return to Pemberley before the end of her scheduled placement, I thought it would be best to send some of her things home with you. You also would be able to differentiate her possessions from the apartment's owner, which we can set aside and have sent to her in a few days time."

"Well, you do raise some good points there, and that is very thoughtful of you. I think I can make a quick trip to the city before driving south. I'll meet you Friday at Lizzie's apartment at 6pm."

"Excellent. Thank you for your assistance."

"Not a problem. Bye, Mr. Darcy."

"Goodbye, Charlotte."

Just as he hung up the phone, Ms. Reynolds knocked on the door.

"Come in," answered Darcy.

Ms. Reynolds bustled in, a notepad and pen in her hand, ready for whatever her boss needed next. "Everything's set for Miss Bennet, and your afternoon is free."

"Great, thank you. Now could you ask Fitz to join me when he has a chance. And ask Ben from our computer science department to meet me as soon as possible."

"Sure thing, Mr. Darcy," replied Ms. Reynolds, who exited as quickly as she came in.

Darcy walked over to his windows, looking over the city for a moment, wondering how one phone call really changed everything about today. Instead of nervous jitters about a possible date with Lizzie (she never did have the chance to reply), he now he was anxious for a whole other reason—trying to fix the mess that George made this time.

**A/N: Trying to get through this post-departure mess, hopefully things will speed up a bit more after this point. Feedback welcome! :)**

**A/N 2: Minor edit-forgot the events went down yesterday, so I changed "tomorrow" to "Friday." Sorry about that!**


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews and feedback! As always I don't own P&P and LBD.

Ch. 2

Fitz was having an awesome day. Gigi's Domino reveal went off without a hitch, and press and blogosphere alike were raving about it. The employees of Pemberley Digital were excited, too, especially those who worked in the Labs that put in all the man-hours to make it happen.

When Reynolds contacted him to say that Darcy wanted to see him, Fitz thought nothing of it. Moreover, he was rather curious to follow-up on those box seats that Gigi mentioned in their last conversation. Twenty minutes later, Fitz arrived at Darcy's office, finding Ben Forster leaving. With a wave to Ms. Reynolds, Fitz knocked on Darcy's door and entered.

"Darcy! It is Domino Day Domination! Have you seen the latest press coverage from _Wired_? I told you today was going to be…" Fitz stopped. Darcy was pacing behind his desk, looking up briefly to acknowledge Fitz's presence before continuing to prowl in agitation. Fitz had not seen Darcy this upset since Halloween.

"…awesome," he finished. "Dude, what's going on?"

Darcy continued to pace, but spoke clearly and succinctly, "Sit. I need to update you on recent events."

Fitz arched his eyebrow, but followed Darcy's request. He shut the door and sat down in front of his desk. After a few moments of silence, Fitz tried to help Darcy in getting the conversation rolling by asking, "You didn't just fire Ben, did you?"

"What? No, of course not," replied Darcy in surprise. "Why would you think that?"

Fitz shrugged and explained, "Well, I just saw him leaving the office, and I haven't seen you so wound up like this for a while. I mean, people would think that Grumpy Cat is really Nyan Cat after stepping into this office for two minutes."

Darcy stopped his pacing, and looked at Fitz in total confusion. "What is this nonsense about cats?"

Fitz smirked, glad that he was able to distract Darcy from his brooding. "You know," said Fitz, "for a guy who is CEO of a media company on the cutting-edge of digital technologies, you lack the basic knowledge of popular internet memes."

Darcy rolled his eyes at Fitz in response before taking a seat at his desk. "Well, I guess that is why I keep you and Gigi around to engage the internet audience. Nice demonstration by the way, even if you decided to discuss my personal affairs in the process."

Fitz held up his hands in defense. "I did nothing, that was all Gigi. I simply asked how you were doing, but she was the one who brought up the box seats." Darcy rolled his eyes again, but said nothing. Fitz continued, "But now that you mention it, what did Lizzie say?"

Darcy sighed, not really wanting to explain everything, but knew he needed to bring Fitz up to speed. "She didn't say."

Fitz gave Darcy a quizzical look, and replied, "She said no? But I thought you guys were finally starting to get along…."

Darcy cut Fitz off, elaborating, "No, she didn't have the chance to respond. Charlotte Lu called informing her of a family emergency. I just made arrangements for her to go home tonight."

Fitz sat up straighter in his chair in alarm, "What? Is anyone hurt, or—what happened?"

"No, her family is fine physically as far as I know," replied Darcy, "But the situation is very serious. Apparently, for the last month Lizzie's younger sister, Lydia, had an intimate relationship with George Wickham."

Whatever Fitz expected to hear, that was not it. "That jackass? I swear, he is some neighborhood pest that doesn't know when to go away. Wait, I thought you told Lizzie all about your history with him, and didn't Gigi just do a video on Lizzie's vlog about that tool?"

Darcy groaned, still reeling from his blame in Lydia's misfortune, "I did, but upon my request, Lizzie kept the information about Gigi's involvement from everybody until Gigi's herself revealed it last week. And apparently, Lizzie and Lydia had some fight over the holidays. They haven't spoken to each other since Christmas, and their lack of contact also included not watching the other's vlogs."

Fitz nodded, "Yeah, family fights can get complicated sometimes. But okay, Lydia is dating that bastard. Which is bad, I agree, but not 'emergency' bad."

Darcy continued, "Well, as I said, Charlotte informed Lizzie about their relationship, which took a darker turn today. Evidently, George is trying a new scheme to extort money by selling a sex tape of himself with Lydia, banking on her YouTube celebrity status."

Fitz's mouth fell open, "WHAT!?"

Darcy nodded grimly, "Yes, he made a website, which has a countdown clock to the release date."

Fitz shook his head in disbelief, "Man…and when is that exactly?"

Darcy tried to give a weak smile, which looked more like a grimace, "Valentine's Day. I believe he was going an ironic pitch."

Fitz gave a hollow chuckle, "Yes…and a certain vindictive pleasure. Hey, isn't that also Lizzie B's birthday?"

Darcy nodded, "Yes, but I doubt he knew her well enough to know that. But this stunt did serve both to earn a quick amount of cash while also getting back at Lizzie, and possibly me."

Fitz rolled his eyes, "That dude seriously needs to get some therapy. Anyways, so that's why Ben was here earlier? Did you recruit his expertise?"

Darcy ran his hand through his hair with a sense of frustration, "Yes, because honestly, I have no idea where else to start. I know he is busy with the launch of Domino today, but he is the one person with the expertise who also will be discreet. I asked him to review Lydia's latest videos for any ideas where George could be. Frankly, I doubt I could stomach watching those videos myself. I also asked him to see if he could extract an IP address or any information from that awful website."

Fitz was stroking his goatee in thought, "Yeah, that's a good start, but before we get too carried away with plotting revenge, I think you need to tell Gigi what's going on."

"Why? The last thing she needs to hear about is George's manipulative actions against another victim. She is still recovering from what he did to her."

"Exactly," argued Fitz. "She is better hearing it from you than getting a nasty shock about this on her own. And it is Wednesday, so was Lizzie working on a new video today?"

Darcy's nodded, his mind briefly reflecting on how Lizzie smiled when he came to see her today.

Fitz continued, "See? She'll probably find out tomorrow when she watches Lizzie's video. You have to tell Gigi."

"Tell Gigi what?" said a female voice from the doorway. The two men jumped in surprise.

"I did knock," said Gigi, coolly, closing the door behind her. She walked up to Darcy's desk and crossed her arms, looking between her older brother and Fitz. She continued, "But you guys seemed to be in an intense discussion. What's going on, William?"

Darcy looked from Gigi to Fitz. Darcy put his hands over his face in weariness and indecision on what to tell his sister. Fitz took pity on Darcy and took the matter of out his hands.

"Okay, Gigi, here's the deal. Lizzie's younger sister, Lydia, is caught up in a mess with George Wickham."

Gigi stared at Fitz, in shock. "WHAT!?" She turned to her brother, "William, what does he mean?"

Darcy removed the hands from in front of his face and glared at Fitz, "Way to break it to her, Fitz."

Fitz raised his hands, "Hey, you weren't doing anything, and it's better to get straight to the point."

Together, Fitz and Darcy explained the story to Gigi. She sat dumbfounded in a chair next to Fitz, just trying to process everything.

"So Lizzie's on her way home now," finished Darcy, "And Fitz and I were just discussing what to do next."

"Oh, William," said Gigi, sadly, "And you had the theater date planned for tonight, too. Did you get a chance to ask her before she had to go home?"

"Asked her, yes," said Darcy, "But Charlotte called before she answered."

"You seriously have the worst timing ever," groaned Gigi.

"Tell me about it," muttered Darcy.

"So what are we going to do? Is there anything legally we can do to prevent the video's release?" asked Gigi.

"Hey, that's an idea," said Fitz, but Darcy shook his head in response.

"I don't think so, not without knowing George's location or where the video is being stored. But my hypothesis is that they will be in the same location."

"Oh, really?" said Fitz.

Darcy looked between Fitz and Gigi. He knew George well after all, and he had analyzed the situation from every possible angle. He explained, "Yes. George is counting on getting a lot of revenue from this video. He would limit the access or copies to prevent it from being leaked early. No, he will have the video and any copies very close to him. And legally, there isn't much room to maneuver. Lydia is an adult, who as far as we know, consented in making this tape. Regardless, any lawsuit would definitely take more than two weeks to get off the ground, by then it would be too late."

"Shit," said Gigi. At a sharp look from her brother, she muttered, "Sorry."

"So if the legal route isn't an option," said Fitz, "then we take the alternative, but more exciting route. Let's hire Tom Selleck for the case!"

Gigi looked at Fitz in confusion, "Who?"

Fitz laughed, and replied, "Oh, Gigi, I forget how young you are sometimes to remember the awesomeness of the 80's. Tom Selleck played a TV character called Magnum, P.I."

Darcy looked at Fitz with a raised eyebrow, "Hmm, that isn't a bad idea. A private investigator may expedite the process more quickly. I'll ask Reynolds to have one meet me here tomorrow." Darcy turned to Gigi, "I know you want to help Lizzie, but I don't want you to worry about this mess. There's not much else we can do right now anyways, so just go to conditioning this evening as planned. It may actually take your mind off things."

Gigi looked mutinous, but she decided not to argue with her brother now. He looked worn out, and the last thing he needed was to fight with her. "Fine," she muttered, then raised her voice to a normal tone, "But don't try to hide stuff like this from me in the future, all right?"

"Fine," muttered Darcy, just like his sister did ten seconds previously.

The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes, each of them lost in thought. Then, Ftiz and Gigi decided to leave Darcy to make plans with Reynolds about the private investigator.

"Dude," said Fitz as he was leaving, "Try to get some rest tonight, okay? We still have time to fix this."

Darcy just nodded in reply as Fitz and Gigi left his office. He leaned back in his chair for a moment before making the final arrangements for the day and heading home early to take his mind off this whole mess.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks everyone for the feedback, reviews, follows, & favs! This chapter probably could be split into two chapters, but I don't think you guys would mind a longer update. As always, I don't own LBD or P&P, just having some fun.**

Ch. 3

Despite his best efforts, Darcy did not sleep well. Therefore, Thursday morning brought about an unusual occurrence for William Darcy: arriving late to work.

He strode into his office building at 9:45am, his messenger bag slung over his shoulder and his left hand carrying a vente Starbucks coffee (another rare choice, in terms of both size and brand). He hoped this coffee would decrease his resemblance to a zombie, but he doubted anything would make this day better than yesterday.

When he reached his office, Darcy saw Ms. Reynolds give him a concerned look, but she did not remark on his tardiness. "Good morning, sir. Ben dropped by fifteen minutes ago requesting to meet with you regarding your pfoject from yesterday. Also, after you left yesterday, Miss Bennet's driver dropped off a note and these for you." She handed over a set of keys and note.

Darcy slipped the keys into his pocket, but kept the note in his hand. "Thank you. Could you please inform Ben that I am now available to meet with him?"

He entered his office, shut the door, and strode over to his desk, dropping off his bag on the floor and coffee on his desk, eager to read Lizzie's note. He relished in the small connection to Lizzie, even if it was a hurried note she wrote in the car.

_Darcy-_

_Thank you again for getting a flight home tonight. Charlotte called back telling me of your plan to meet her on Friday, but we realized that you didn't have a key to my apartment to get my things. So I am leaving the keys and note with the driver, which I hope makes it back to you._

_All the best,_

_-Lizzie_

It was a simple, pragmatic gesture, but Darcy did not care. He found himself staring at her closing, tracing over her name with his index finger. A knock on the door broke the spell Lizzie's note had over him. He put it down, and answered, "Come in."

Ben Forster entered his office, and greeted Darcy. As Ben closed the door behind him, Darcy noticed that Ben was carrying some hand-written notes and a flash drive with him.

"Good morning, Ben. Please have a seat. I hope you were able to make some progress."

"Yes, sir," said Ben. "I wasn't able to gather too much, but I hope the bits of information will get you in the right direction."

After taking a sip of coffee, Darcy replied, "That is good to hear. Please continue."

"After our meeting yesterday, I thought my first step was to watch Lydia's videos since Christmas. Oh, and I made sure to use my personal tablet off the company servers and internet as you requested. But yeah, that Wickham guy is definitely a charmer, I'll give him that."

Darcy nodded, "That sounds familiar. When did all of this start exactly?"

"New Year's Eve. Apparently, the two met up in Las Vegas and—" Ben coughed, "Rang in the new year together."

Darcy raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing sexual at that point, by the looks of it. But a later video alludes to George doing her a favor in Vegas, but it was vague."

"So after Las Vegas, what happened?" inquired Darcy.

"Not much. Lydia went home, George joined her, and they started dating after George's persistence. Typical lovey-dovey new relationship stuff, although the last two videos took a more disturbing turn. Last week George turned more emotionally abusive, trying to alienate her from her sisters. And the last video is Lydia alone, confessing her love for him. She definitely fell hook, line, and sinker."

Darcy sighed, "Well, she hasn't been the only one. Anything else from her vlogs?"

Ben shook his head, "No, I think George was very careful of what he revealed on camera. The only hint to his current location on Tuesday is that he went—" Ben checked his notes to get the exact phrasing Lydia used, "—'to visit a buddy from school this week.' But that could easily have been a lie."

Darcy was lost in thought for a second, trying to remember any contacts from school that may still be in contact with George. "Very well," said Darcy. "What about the, um, website?"

"Ah, well, that was more informative. It appears that Wickham made a gmail account and has a YouTube channel dedicated to the pending release of the video. Also, to put up his website, he had to register it somewhere. I tried a few different ways to track down the IP address of his website, but he seems to know how to cover his tracks well. Initial pings of his website traced him to Vancouver, British Columbia."

Darcy leaned back in his chair in surprise, "Canada?"

"Yes, but not really. He was a bit clever, or knew someone who could help him in setting up this site. I guess he half expected someone would come looking for him. It seems he was trying to mask his IP address to make it look like he was in the great white north. On closer inspection, his actual IP address is somewhere in Los Angeles. I couldn't get a more precise geolocation than that, I'm afraid."

"No, it is definitely a lot more to go on than I had yesterday," mused Darcy. "And L.A. makes a lot more sense—he is rather fond of that city."

Ben continued, "If you have contacts at Google or YouTube, you could try to have them access his account to get more information. Although the legal grounds are a bit shady if you go that route."

Darcy raised his eyebrows, "I do have contacts there, but I need to keep this search on the right side of the law if we have a chance in succeeding."

Ben nodded, "Of course, just figured I mention it, sir. Well, that's all I have. Here are my notes and all the IP address info I saved for you."

"Excellent work, Ben, thank you for your help on this personal matter."

"No problem, I wish I could help more," said Ben, who nodded to his boss and left the office.

Darcy skimmed the information Ben gave him and put it away for his later meeting. He glanced over at Lizzie's note still on his desk. He realized with this new information, he would have to ask Gigi to help Charlotte on Friday night instead of him. It would also give Gigi something to do to help that didn't involve re-opening the wounds that George inflicted on her. He picked up the note again, and feeling a little foolish, Darcy refolded the note and put it in the inside pocket of his suit jacket—right next to his heart.

* * *

"Mr. Darcy," came Ms. Reynolds' voice over the intercom, "Your 11:45 appointment is here."

Darcy turned from his desktop screen and hit a button on his intercom to respond. "Thank you, please send him in."

Darcy's office door opened, revealing a man who looked far younger than Darcy expected. Tall with dark brown hair, he wore dark denim jeans, a simple white button down shirt, and a brown blazer. The look of youthfulness was principally due his boyish looking face, but the lines around his hazel eyes showed that he was closer to early to mid thirties in age rather than his early twenties.

"Morning, Mr. Darcy," the man said in a crisp, but casual tone. He entered the office, shut the door, and continued. "My name is Jack Stewart."

Darcy rose from his desk and shook Jack's hand. "Yes, pleased to meet you. Please have a seat."

Both men sat, and Jack decided to start off the meeting. "So your secretary out there said you needed me to investigate a personal matter for you. Normally I don't accept meetings with so little information, but your name and reputation piqued my interest."

"And what did you find so intriguing?" asked Darcy.

Jack leaned back in his chair, both hands in his jeans pockets, "Well, as far as I ever heard, the Darcys—your parents, you, and your sister—have never had any scandal or problems tied to it. Which, by the way, is an increasing feat in recent years. So why would the spotless Mr. William F. Darcy of all people need a private investigator?"

Darcy raised his eyebrows, "You are certainly candid."

Jack chuckled, "Well, after being in this line of work for over ten years, you learn that straight talk before committing to a case is better than being blind sighted by information later on. But don't worry, I'm programmed to be charming if helps me crack a case."

At these words, Darcy had a fleeting image of Lizzie's Darcy-bot imitation. Clearing his throat, Darcy replied, "Very well, I can respect that. Reynolds told me you the best in the area, and came highly recommended."

Jack nodded in acknowledgment, "I thank you for the compliment, but a solid reputation is the nature of the job if I ever expect to get more work in the future. You're lucky that I just finished a case and potentially start your case on short notice. So what's the job?"

Darcy took a deep breath, and began, "Well, the job is not anyone in my family…" _Not yet, anyways, _thought Darcy. "But I need your help for…uh…a friend of mine. Her sister is a sex tape scandal, although it hasn't been released yet. It is set to go out in two weeks."

Jack kept a neutral expression, and replied, "Okay, so why do you want me to get involved? What investment do you have?"

Darcy raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Excuse me?"

Jack elaborated, "Well, I can understand helping a friend and all, but it is a large leap from being a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to cry on, to jump to dishing out the expense for a P.I."

"You clearly have an appreciation of human psychology. Yes, I do have a motive beyond just helping a friend. The person who is behind this whole affair is a former acquaintance of mine named George Wickham."

"Okay..." said Jack. "So this Wickham guy—tell me what exactly your dealings are with him."

For the next twenty minutes or so, Darcy explained everything to Jack: his personal history with George, George's past relationship with Gigi, George's interactions with the Bennets, and George's latest relationship with Lydia. Jack didn't interrupt much, only asking a pointed question to get more details from Darcy. Darcy finished by giving Jack the information Ben gave him this morning.

"I can see why you make the big money around here, you do have a good head on shoulders," said Jack. "I agree with your current assumptions that Wickham is in L.A. and the police and courts can't do much for you. I also think Wickham probably will have the tape either on him or only accessible to him. The thing I don't get is your endgame. What do you want to accomplish?"

Darcy gave Jack a sharp glare, a little agitated on recounting all the history of George's manipulations, "I thought that was obvious. Find Wickham, force him to take down the website, and destroy the video and any copies."

Jack smirked, "Yes, I gathered that much. But forcing a man to turn over his private property isn't that simple. We're long past the days of dueling a man who violates a lady's honor. His possession and distribution of that tape is perfectly legal, although there are plenty of celebrities like Paris Hilton who would sympathize with you. Unless I can dig up anything on Wickham for leverage, he has to agree to give up the tape. As you said, he is banking on making money off this tape, so I doubt he'll give it up without a hefty price. And if he knows of your involvement, he will sure to make that bar pretty high."

Darcy surveyed jack with increased respect, "Yes, you are right, of course. But I don't care about that. He has his price, every man does. He took the check to leave Gigi, he'll do it again, I'm sure of it. And I don't care if he doubles or triples that amount this time—we need to stop this, now."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Interesting. So your motives aren't really payback for Mr. Wickham?"

"No," said Darcy, "No, it's not." Darcy, like Lizzie, felt responsible for Lydia's downfall, but more than anything else, wanted to protect Lydia for Lizzie.

"Okay then," said Jack. "I think that _friend_ of yours would be extremely grateful for your efforts to help her and her sister."

Darcy was shaken from his thoughts of Lizzie, and quickly replied, "She must not know we're involved. Her or her family."

Jack heaved a great sigh, and said "Mr. Darcy, with all due respect, placing conditions on how I do my work won't help you either. I need to track down Lydia and try to get her to tell me what she knows."

"You make a point," conceded Darcy, who ran a hand through his hair in agitation. "Fine. Try to get Lydia to talk without mentioning me if possible. But if you have to mention my connection, then please ask her to maintain secrecy of my involvement. If her sister were to find out, it would…complicate things. She didn't want me to help with this problem."

"Fair enough. Okay, based on everything I've heard, I'll agree take the case. I'll send over my contract, which is my standard operating procedure for all clients. For the record, my rates don't exploit my wealthy clients, I keep it the same for everybody. Should I contact your secretary when I have updates?"

"No," said Darcy. "Contact me directly." Darcy handed Jack a card with his personal information. "And I won't be here anyways. I'll be flying to L.A. this afternoon, so—"

"Hang on," interrupted Jack. "Why are you going to L.A.?"

"I want to be local and help with the investigation," replied Darcy.

Jack shook his head. "No. No way. I don't do sidekicks."

"Look," said Darcy, with a slightly pleading tone in his voice, "I need to do something. Sitting in this office while everything is going on is maddening. I know L.A. well, and I know of some of his old haunts there. I can be an asset while you're off talking to Lydia Bennet. We don't have a lot of time, and L.A. is a big city."

Jack grimaced. After a few moments of silence, Jack groaned in agitation. "Fine, but I don't like this a damn bit. Still, you seem like a stubborn mule that won't change his mind easily. Just don't do anything stupid, like draw attention to yourself. Don't rent a fancy car, dress more casually, you get the idea. I'll notify you when I'm headed down to L.A."

"Understood," said Darcy. Jack stood up and shook Darcy's hand.

"Don't make me regret taking on a sidekick," said Jack.

"I promise to keep a low profile," replied Darcy. "And I'll have the contract ready for you this afternoon."

Jack nodded and left the office. Darcy remained seated for a few quiet moments, hoping that all this work could really help Lizzie and Lydia.

**A/N: And done! Part of the reason for the long chapter is that I really wanted to dislodge the moody Darcy from Pemberley. I will have POV changes in this story (especially since LBD lends itself to POV changes), so the next chapter will be Gigi's Friday. For those who were wondering, yes, I am going to try to adapt some canon stuff when and where I can (e.g., I had Darcy leave Thursday, even though that wasn't in my original plot sketch). Eventually, I fully expect canon-balling. Oh, and one last thing for those **_**Firefly**_** fans out there, my inspiration when developing Jack's character is Malcolm Reynolds, although Jack is far less likely to violate the law than Mal does. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**As always, I don't own P&P or LBD**.

Ch. 4

Gigi was frustrated at her big brother. After their terse conversation during the Domino demo, she went up to her office and threw on her headphones to block out the world. She cranked up a girl-power playlist she made a few months ago, which included some of her favorite jams, including Florence & The Machine, Lily Allen, and Kelly Clarkson (the latter a guilty pleasure of hers, which her brother called "too mainstream to be called decent music"). She immersed herself in work as a distraction, the beats of the music isolating herself from everything else around her. So it was no surprise, that a little after noon, Gigi was nearly scared half to death from a tap on her shoulder. She spun around, coming face to face with none other than Fitz Williams.

"Hey GGD!" said Fitz brightly.

"Jesus, Fitz, you could try to warn me next time," scolded Gigi, who was still catching her breath.

"I did. Check your phone. Although how you expected me NOT to scare you with that music up to ear bleeding levels…" said Fitz, giving her a slightly patronizing look.

Gigi checked her phone, and sure enough, Fitz had sent her several texts. "Oh sorry, I was supposed to meet you downstairs ten minutes ago. Where do you want to go for lunch?"

Fitz waved her off, "No worries. And your choice. Do you want to stay here or go off-campus."

Gigi replied, "I think that Mexican place around the corner would be a nice change."

Fitz chuckled, "Ah yes, the place your older brother hates, if I recall."

"Well, if William's not here, he has no right to complain," retorted Gigi, who grabbed her purse. "Okay, let's go."

Fitz and Gigi walked out of her office and went off to lunch, chatting away about superficial things—Gigi's girl-power playlist, Fitz's morning, and the new Domino press. After placing their order, Fitz decided to change the tone of the conversation.

"So about that demo this morning…" started Fitz.

Gigi groaned. "I can't believe William sometimes, he can be so infuriating."

"Well," said Fitz, "You did catch him off-guard this morning. You know how much your brother loves surprises."

Gigi gave a hollow laugh, "Yeah, he reminded me as much after our 'Lizzie Trap' move."

Fitz grinned, "Still a rather genius move of ours, which he'll thank us for when he and Lizzie are married in two years. Truth!" Gigi grinned and rolled her eyes, but let Fitz continue. "But seriously, you know how he deals with surprises, and he's under a lot of stress right now trying to fix everything."

Gigi sighed in exasperation, "I know, but that's my point. I spent more time with George than he has in recent years. I mean, we lived together and everything. William can use my help."

"True, GGD, very true. But he'll come around when he realizes he needs you. Right now, he wants to fly solo, taking the weight of the world on his shoulders. He's like Luke Skywalker off to battle Vader on his own. But in the back of his mind, he knows he can count on Leia and the Rebel Alliance to have his back."

Gigi gave a weak smile to Fitz, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Although if he hired that P.I., he isn't really going solo."

Fitz shrugged, "You know what I mean, it is still something he is doing and someone he hired. Though I don't know if he hired someone or not. I haven't heard anything from him since Wednesday, except to tell me to cancel the Super Bowl party."

Gigi sighed, "Yeah, I don't know what's going on either." The two sat in silence for a moment, and Gigi continued, "By the way, if I'm Leia, what does that make you?"

Fitz tilted his head in thought for a moment, "Yoda…no wait," He turned his head to grin at Gigi, "Chewbacca! Co-pilot of the Millennium Falcon and the most badass Wookie in town!"

Gigi laughed, "Of course. But you do realize that if we continue this analogy, George would be father to William and me, which would be really gross and wrong on multiple levels."

"Hey, don't ruin a good story with too many facts, GGD," replied Fitz.

* * *

After her lunch with Fitz, Gigi's afternoon was much better. She still hadn't heard from William, but as Fitz said, he'll come to her when he's ready. On the plus side, she was looking forward to meeting Charlotte that evening.

She arrived at Lizzie's (temporary) apartment a quarter to six, and let herself in with the keys William gave her the day before. She dropped off a pizza and some sodas on the dining room table, thinking that Charlotte probably wouldn't have time to get dinner if she drove straight from work. Gigi walked back outside and waited, and soon enough, a car pulled up in front of Lizzie's building just before 6pm.

Charlotte got out of the car, and approached Gigi. "Hello, I'm Charlotte, and you must be Gigi Darcy. It's nice to meet you."

Gigi gave Charlotte and a grin, barely able to contain the excitement of meeting the famous Charlotte Lu from Lizzie's videos, "Yes, and it's nice to meet you, too—Lizzie talks about you all the time."

"Well, friends with fetus-bonds tend to do that. Shall we go in? I doubt this will take long—Lizzie really didn't bring a ton of stuff with her. I know your brother mentioned something about sending the rest of her stuff later, but I think we can manage to get everything tonight."

"Yeah, sure. Oh! And I got us a pizza. I hope you don't mind, it's gluten-free—I'm allergic…but I swear, it isn't as gross as it sounds. William and I took the time to find the best gluten-free pizza in town." rambled Gigi.

Charlotte gave Gigi a warm smile, "That sounds great, I'm actually pretty hungry. Why don't we eat real quick before packing Lizzie's stuff?"

The two women walked into Lizzie apartment and went to kitchen to get plates and cups for their dinner. They both sat in the dining room for their quick meal.

"So," said Charlotte, "I hear you guys at Pemberley have been busy with the roll out of the Domino application this week?"

"Oh yeah! I mean, yes, we have." said Gigi, correcting herself. "Have you been watching our demo videos?"

"Yes, Ms. de Bourgh had a meeting with us this week in which she expressed a desire to incorporate and support her family's latest endeavors," explained Charlotte.

Gigi nearly choked on her pizza, and replied in a high voice, "My Aunt Catherine is watching the demos?"

Charlotte gave Gigi a weak smile, "Yes, she is. We actually had a meeting today discussing how this new life-revealing application could be the new way to do the confessional segments in reality TV programming. We're going to start trying it out on our new _Game of Gourds_ episodes."

"Oh God," said Gigi, thinking back over her video with William that morning, "She doesn't know about…everything…does she?"

"No, or at least, as far as I know. Ricky knows, of course, because he watches Lizzie's videos. I talked with him yesterday about it. I explained to him the prudence of keeping such private matters as quiet as possible, especially since there is that video with him and Lydia on Lizzie's vlogs."

Gigi covered your mouth in surprise, "You didn't…"

Charlotte chuckled, "Well, I phrased it differently than that…it sounded much less like blackmail, I assure you. But Ricky is a smart business guy who knows the importance of preserving a reputation. So I think we're assured of his silence."

Gigi smiled, "The Bennets are lucky to have you looking out for them."

Charlotte grinned, "Well, they are like my family. And I know you also want to help with everything, but I wanted to advise you to be careful about the content of your demos from here on."

Gigi gave Charlotte a casual salute, "Message received, loud and clear."

Charlotte and Gigi quickly finished the pizza and cleaned up everything. They chatted amicably as they worked, quickly getting all of Lizzie's things together and the apartment cleaned up. Lizzie kept things fairly clean, so the whole process did not take long. Around 7:15, Charlotte's car was packed and ready to go.

"Well, thanks for all your help Gigi. And I know Lizzie will appreciate all your help and being such a great host during her stay," said Charlotte.

"No problem! It was my pleasure. And it was great to meet you as well!" said Gigi.

"And it was nice to meet you, too. Well, I best get going if I'm going to make it home before midnight," said Charlotte, turning away from Gigi to walk back to her car.

"Wait a second," said Gigi, abruptly. Charlotte stopped her progress and turned, raising an eyebrow to Gigi. On the doorstep of Lizzie's apartment building, Gigi was wringing her hands together and biting her lip, teetering on a decision.

After a moment, Gigi spoke, "Um, this may sound crazy, but may I come with you to visit Lizzie this weekend?"

**A/N: Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic reviews! I took some time off to work on some grad school papers and to enjoy the Super Bowl, but I was able to get this chapter out today. I'm not sure if I can keep up this quick uploading pace, but I'm having a lot of fun with this story. I definitely won't abandon it anytime soon, so don't worry. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own P&P or LBD.**

Ch. 5

Caroline had a busy week. Chloe, a close friend of Caroline's, was getting married in Napa Valley this upcoming summer. She was in the midst of finalizing wedding plans, and she asked for Caroline's help. Caroline was more than eager to offer advice on fashion and décor, so the two friends were busy all week, from dress shopping to a trip to Napa to make 100% certain that the floral arrangements and color schemes worked with the venue Chloe and her fiancé already reserved.

After this busy week, Caroline returned to her childhood home that she shared with Bing—the Lee mansion in Bel Air. As she drove her Porsche hybrid into the garage on Friday evening, she was surprised to see an unfamiliar Honda Civic parked there as well. The mystery distracted her as she exited her car and entered the house. She quickly searched the ground floor for her brother, who she found drinking tea and reading in the kitchen.

"Bing, did you hire a new maid or something? I thought we told all personnel to park on the street and not in our garage," said Caroline.

"Well, hello Caroline. I'm doing fine, thanks for asking," replied Bing in his usual, casual tone. "And what are you talking about?"

"The car in the garage, a black Honda Civic, I think? Whose car is that?" asked Caroline.

"That would be mine."

Caroline spun around to see Darcy standing at the opposite side of the kitchen. Caroline was taken aback. Not only was she not expecting to see William Darcy in the house, but his appearance was so different—he was wearing his glasses, not his usual contacts. And was he wearing blue jeans?

"William! This is a pleasant surprise! Bing didn't tell me you were here," greeted Caroline, nudging her brother with her elbow. "I didn't expect you to be driving something so…pedestrian. Were they out of your usual Maserati?"

Darcy rolled his eyes at Caroline and replied, "No, it was a pragmatic choice. My meetings in town will likely be away from the vigilant security of valet parking. I merely made a selection I deemed suitable for this trip."

"I see," said Caroline, still unconvinced. "And what exactly are these 'meetings' you speak of?"

Before Darcy could reply, Bing answered for his friend, "Nosy, much, Caroline? Does it really matter why Darcy is here?"

"No, of course not," said Caroline, giving her brother a quizzical look before turning back to Darcy. "You are always welcome in our home, William, you know that."

"Thank you, Caroline, I always appreciate your hospitality. Now if you would excuse me, I just came in to grab this," Darcy opened the refrigerator to grab some bottled water, "and I must return to my work."

After pausing a few seconds to make sure Darcy was out of earshot, Caroline rounded on her brother, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Bing shrugged, "You were busy with Chloe all week. And he just came in last night, so you haven't missed him for that long. Besides, you two can catch up while I'm out tonight."

Caroline raised her eyebrows, "And where are you off to?"

"Study session," replied Bing.

"On a Friday night?" asked Caroline.

Bing grinned, and shrugged his shoulders. "You know, no rest in the life of a med student."

Caroline wasn't buying it. "Didn't the semester just start a couple of weeks ago? You're not even close to midterms yet."

Bing sighed and explained, "We have some tough professors this term, so I need to study more regularly. Anyways, I'm sure you guys can handle dinner without me just for one evening. I'll be back later tonight. Don't bother to wait up." Bing took his tea cup, put it in the dishwasher, and exited the kitchen in the direction of the garage.

Caroline stood in the kitchen for a moment, watching her brother's retreating back. _What is going on with these guys today?_ thought Caroline.

* * *

After dinner, Darcy and Caroline relocated to the lounge for the evening. Darcy was sitting in an armchair, taking his usual stance of hunching over his laptop, working. Caroline, who was sitting across from him on a sofa, was on her phone, texting her friends and catching up on Twitter, occasionally sipping on some Cabernet Sauvignon she picked up in Napa. She was bored, but she stayed in the lounge in the hopes Darcy would stop working for at least two seconds to talk with her. However, in her years of knowing William Darcy, she knew that she had to take matters into her own hands if they were ever going to talk this evening.

"Oh, William," said Caroline, "Don't you ever stop working on Friday nights?"

Darcy—not bothering to look up from his laptop—replied, "Occasionally. I believe you have witnessed me attend social gatherings on Friday evenings with a regular frequency."

"True," said Caroline, with a small laugh. "But other people like to take off Friday evenings for leisure even when no social gatherings are planned. You know, just to relax and unwind. Here, let me get you a glass of wine."

"As I said earlier when you offered, no thank you," replied Darcy, still fixated on his work.

"Are you sure? It is an excellent vintage. Nothing like that boxed wine we saw with regularity last summer."

"I am sure, thank you," replied Darcy, his tone traced with mild annoyance.

Caroline frowned, frustrated that Darcy was not bothering to look at her during this whole exchange. In a final attempt to force him into conversation, Caroline steered the topic in a different direction, "And speaking of experiences and people from last summer, I heard that you and Lizzie have been seeing each other with some regularity in San Francisco."

Finally, Darcy stopped his work and looked up at Caroline. After adjusting his glasses, Darcy replied, "Yes, I saw her occasionally over the past few weeks."

"Yes, well, Bing mentioned he saw her when he visited you last."

In response, Darcy crossed his arms and mutely looked back at Caroline.

Caroline sipped her wine again, waiting for Darcy to respond. When he remained silent, Caroline decided to press on with the conversation now that he was actually looking at her. "But I heard that Lizzie had to return home abruptly, something that involved a scandalous tape and her younger sister."

Darcy cleared his throat, and replied. "Something like that, yes."

Caroline smirked back at Darcy. "Shocking, isn't it William?" replied Caroline. "I must say that I am glad that we no longer associate with that family. I know you were once very fond of Lizzie, but even you can see how damaging a connection with that family is to your reputation. Who knows what other scandalous secrets those Bennets are hiding!"

Caroline smirk faltered. Darcy's eyes flashed with anger, and he quickly rebuked Caroline for her assertions. "They could have a million scandalous secrets hidden in their closets, but they would not change the fact that Lizzie Bennet is one of the most amazing women I have ever met."

Darcy's proclamation stunned Caroline into silence. Taking this opportunity to leave Caroline's presence, Darcy closed his laptop and rose from his seat, "I have had an arduous day, so I am going to bed early. Good night."

Caroline remained the sofa for several long minutes, dumbfounded by what Darcy had just said. The passionate look in his eyes vividly reminded her of a look her brother had for a different Bennet only a few months ago. But as she ensured the end of Bing and Jane, Caroline was certain she could also stop Darcy and Lizzie before anything got off the ground.

After taking a calming breath, Caroline grabbed her wine and retreated to the formal dining room, making sure Darcy was far out of earshot. On the way, she scrolled through her contacts until she found the number she was looking for. She hit the "Call" button on her phone, and waited for a response.

After three rings, the voice of Ms. Catherine de Bourgh came through her phone. "Why hello, Caroline! It is past a decent hour to call by traditional etiquette, you know."

"My apologies for the lack of decorum, Ms. de Bourgh. I just realized that it simply has been too long since we last spoke, and I felt the need to rectify that error immediately," replied Caroline, adding an extra layer of charm she reserved for Darcy's aunt.

"Oh, it's fine, dear, it's fine. Etiquette is more flexible among closer affiliations. Now I know how much of a work ethic you have—just like myself and my dear nephew of mine—and I imagine you are quite busy with social engagements as of late, especially with Fashion Week starting next week," replied Catherine de Bourgh.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Caroline. "But it is always an exciting time of year."

"Oh yes, it is simply splendid, just splendid. I myself will be flying off to New York tomorrow before their Fashion Week starts. It is lamentable they no longer hold it in Bryant Park, but the Lincoln Center will have to do. But it has been far too long since I have been to a New York Fashion Week event."

Caroline's mood sank, but she kept a normal tone with Ms. de Bourgh. "Indeed, and New York is lovely at any time of the year. I hope you have a wonderful trip, and I must make plans to visit you again when you return. I would love to discuss the latest trends from the East Coast."

"That sounds excellent plan, Caroline. Simply grand."

Caroline smiled, and decided to keep the call short. "Well, as you said, it is rather late, so I will end this call early to ensure you have plenty of rest before your flight."

"Oh, that is sweet of you, dear," said Ms. de Bourgh. "Thank you for calling, and you can make plans to visit after Feb. 15."

"That sounds wonderful, Ms. de Bourgh. Good night."

Caroline hung up the phone. _Well, _thought Caroline, _two weeks won't make a difference. She'll remind Darcy of his place._ And with that reassuring thought, Caroline finished off the last of her wine before going to bed.

**A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it. I'll admit, this chapter was not easy to write. I re-wrote huge chunks of it, but parts of it still feel contrived. Still, I felt this chapter was necessary for a P&P adaptation, to move the plot along, and set things up for later…you get the idea. Anyways, thanks again for all your reviews!**


	6. Chapter 6

**As always, I don't own P&P and LBD.**

Ch. 6

Lizzie woke up early Saturday morning. She hadn't slept well the last several nights, but in her attempt to be a supportive sister (although she felt that she was failing spectacularly at that job as of late), she didn't complain much to her immediate family. Besides, today she could at least look forward to seeing her number one bestie for the first time in weeks. Lizzie decided to kill time before Charlotte arrived by hanging out in the den. Her laptop was on the coffee table, playing Coldplay softly in the background. Lizzie tried to dive into some light-hearted reading, from the Hunger Games to Harry Potter, but nothing seemed to hold her attention for long. Around 10am, a knock on the door was a welcome summons. Lizzie closed her book, rose from the couch, and ran to the door to greet Charlotte.

"Hey, Lizzie," said Charlotte, and without preamble, Lizzie launched herself onto Charlotte and gave her a big hug. Looking over Charlotte's shoulder, however, Lizzie realized that there was another guest to greet her.

"Gigi!" shouted Lizzie in surprise. She went over to Gigi and gave her a quick hug. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

Gigi smiled back at Lizzie, "Well, that wasn't the greeting I expected."

Lizzie quickly corrected herself. "No, that's not what I meant, I just never expected you to be here of all places—"

Gigi, who was smiling, cut her off, "I know what you meant, don't worry, I was just teasing you. And this trip was a spur of the moment thing."

Charlotte chimed in, "After packing your stuff last night, Gigi asked to join me on the trip home. We had a brief chat to work out the finer details, but she wanted to be here to support you guys, too."

Gigi added, "Yep! I'm staying at the Best Western a few miles away."

Lizzie turned from Charlotte back to Gigi, "That's sweet of you, really—thanks. You didn't have to go through all that trouble, especially booking a hotel room. We could have put you up here."

Gigi waved her off. "It was no trouble, and I didn't want to burden either of your families at the last minute. And trust me, you guys are doing me a favor. The alternative for this weekend would have been moping around all weekend alone, watching _Casablanca_ for the millionth time. This is way better."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow, wondering where Gigi's older brother was if he wasn't hanging around Gigi. But before she could dwell too long on this information, Charlotte interrupted her musings by asking, "So do you want us to help you take your stuff back to your room?"

"Oh yeah, that would be great. Except don't put it in my room just yet, put it in Jane's room."

Charlotte looked surprised, "Why Jane's room."

Lizzie let out a hollow chuckle, "Oh, you'll see. One of my mother's latest convoluted plans."

Gigi and Charlotte exchanged curious looks before heading back to Charlotte's car to unpack. The three girls each grabbed a bag or box and took it inside. Once upstairs, they first deposited the items in Jane's old room. Charlotte was the first to respond, "Whoa, what happened here?"

"Welcome to the new Bennet sewing room," said Lizzie, waving her arm like real estate agent showing off a property. Gigi looked around with a bemused expression, while Charlotte remained in stunned disbelief.

"Um…wow. So I guess Mrs. Bennet is taking up new hobbies with two of her daughters out of the nest?" asked Charlotte.

"Oh, you could say that. Or it is her message to Jane and me—" Lizzie switched to her mother's southern accent "—to find a rich, handsome man to marry."

Charlotte chuckled, "Dare I ask what she did to your room?"

"Oh, just wait," said Lizzie.

The three of them walked out of the sewing room and turned right to enter Lizzie's room.

As she opened her door, Lizzie said, "And now behind door number two, you'll see…." Lizzie paused for dramatic effect. "The new meditation room!"

Charlotte walked just past the threshold and stopped almost immediately in shock, staring at the new aquarium and decor. Gigi peered curiously over Charlotte's shoulder into the room. "Are those seahorses?" asked Gigi.

"Yes, yes, they are," said Lizzie, nodding. "And let me tell you, they are creepy as hell when you're trying to sleep."

Charlotte looked back at Lizzie in confusion, "Why is that exactly?"

"You try to sleep with them staring at you with their beady little eyes. And the hum of that filter doesn't help either."

"Okay..." said Charlotte, knowing when to not push Lizzie's warped views on a subject. "I'm just impressed she got this decorated so fast. I mean, you've been gone for less than a month."

Lizzie laughed. "Well, you know my mother. Once she has a plan…."

Gigi piped up, "So why did you want us to take the stuff to Jane's room?"

Lizzie shook her head as she replied, "She said she didn't want any of my books ruining the zen of the room…although I doubt she has any idea what that means."

Charlotte gave a sympathetic smile. "Well, I guess we should offload the rest of the stuff into Jane's room and leave the fish to their meditation."

The trio made short work of what was left of Lizzie's belongings. Afterwards, they went back to the den to chat.

Once they settled down, Charlotte turned to Lizzie and asked, "So I guess your folks aren't home?"

Lizzie nodded. "Nope, they're off running Saturday errands."

Charlotte nodded, and decided to move forward to address the elephant in the room. "And do they know...about….you know."

Lizzie shifted uncomfortably. "Not from what I can tell. A small relief for me actually, even though this whole mess is nothing about me."

Gigi gave Lizzie a quizzical look. In response, Lizzie elaborated, "The site referenced Lydia as a YouTube celebrity. Which would mean my parents—specifically, my mother—would want to know _how _exactly Lydia became a YouTube celebrity. Which would mean watching Lydia's videos…and she has links on her channel back to my videos…."

Gigi's eyes grew wide in comprehension, "Oh, not good."

Lizzie nodded grimly, "But no, they're in the dark as far as I know. I mean, Lydia herself didn't even know until Thursday."

Gigi looked at Lizzie in horror, "Oh God, she had no idea that he went public with the tape?"

Lizzie looked down and replied in a dead voice. "No, she didn't. And I probably broke the news to her in the worst possible way." Gigi and Charlotte exchanged worried glances as Lizzie continued, clearly holding back tears. "I assumed the worst of her, that she took her party girl behavior to a new extreme and consented to all of this. But that bastard, he—" Lizzie paused, taking a deep breath to try to calm down, "He just up and left her last week. I looked back at my video from yesterday, and she was trying to call him just before I told her. I don't know if she ever talked to him. I just feel so horrible. I have never seen her so upset before."

Charlotte gave Lizzie a side hug on the couch, "You had no way of knowing that."

Lizzie raised her voice slightly, her voice still shaking with repressed emotion, "No, I did. If I just actually talked to Lydia over the past month, I could have prevented this. And even then, I chose to confront her—not ask her—about the tape. I assumed the worst before verifying the facts. Again. I thought I had learned my lesson in not jumping to conclusions," said Lizzie, pausing briefly to look over at Gigi. "But I guess not. And now I hurt my baby sister not only by ignoring her since Christmas, but assuming she was capable of such debauchery."

Charlotte and Gigi let Lizzie talk herself into silence. Gigi gave her a sad smile and said, "It's not your fault—you can't be there all the time to protect her. And your assumptions of what George did to Lydia were skewed by knowing what George convinced me to do. Lydia might be mad at you now, but in the back of her mind, she knows you came back home for her. To help her. She'll come around, eventually."

Lizzie, still looking down, replied with a sniff. "I hope so. She's still my sister. I love her, and want to comfort her—and kick that bastard's ass from here to Timbuktu and back again. I just wish I didn't screw things up so royally."

"Where is Lydia anyways?" asked Charlotte.

Lizzie looked up at Charlotte and replied, her voice calmer. "She went up to her room after I showed her the website on Thursday, and I've barely seen her leave it since. I want to talk to her, to comfort her, and do the things big sisters are supposed to do, but she won't answer the door when I knock. I hope at least Kitty is giving her some comfort."

Gigi nodded in understanding, "Yeah, that sounds familiar."

Charlotte, looking pensive, suggested, "Maybe we should try to get her to go out tonight, get her out of the house. Perhaps go to Carter's?"

Lizzie shook her head, "I don't know, it might be too soon for her."

"Maybe it is," said Gigi, "but honestly, going out again is going to be hard whether it is two days or six weeks later. And I would like to try to talk to her if I can. After all, I know firsthand what it is like to recover from George Wickham breaking your heart."

Lizzie gave Gigi a sympathetic smile and said, "That's nice of you to offer, but you don't have to re-open old wounds. I was already planning on showing her my video with you from last week when she was up for it."

"Well, I'm here in person for the weekend, so if I can be of any help, just let me know," said Gigi.

"Thanks," said Lizzie.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment. Charlotte decided to take the imitative and addressed Lizzie. "Well, if I know you Lizzie Bennet," said Charlotte, "you have trapped yourself in this house since Thursday, internalizing all this guilt and anger and not telling anyone." Lizzie gave Charlotte a weak smile as confirmation. "So I think what _you_ need is to get out of this house, too. Why don't the three of us go get lunch, and maybe we can go to the mall for a bit?"

Gigi raised her eyebrows in surprise, "The mall?"

Lizzie smiled and elaborated for bestie, "Trust me, the mall passes for the culture center in this town. That and the local Target. Your options for entertainment are limited beyond that."

"Oh," said Gigi, taken slightly aback. "Well, the mall sounds great then!"

Both Charlotte and Lizzie laughed. "All right then," said Lizzie, "Let's go."

* * *

Lizzie, Charlotte, and Gigi all had an enjoyable afternoon. As both Lizzie and Charlotte were on tight budgets, the mall trip was window-shopping more than anything, but Gigi insisted upon buying them each early birthday presents. Ignoring Lizzie's protests that it was way too much money for a gift, Gigi bought Lizzie a nay pencil dress from Anthropologie, which Lizzie claimed made her look like she was in an episode of _Mad Men_. For Charlotte, Gigi bought a new black blazer at Macy's that Charlotte wanted for work. Overall, they had a great time, and spent far longer out in town than initially expected.

They grabbed a quick dinner before heading back to Lizzie's place to drop her off, as Charlotte and Gigi both needed to change before going out to Carter's that night.

When they got back to the Bennet household a little after six, to the surprise of all of them, they saw Lydia sitting on the couch in the den. She looked perfectly normal, watching re-runs of _America's Next Top Model_ with Kitty in her lap.

"Hey, Lydia," said Lizzie, cautiously.

Lydia turned look at Lizzie. "Hey Lizzie, hey Charlotte," said Lydia, in a subdued tone.

Lizzie was surprised that Lydia was actually speaking to her, and suddenly realized she needed to introduce Gigi.

"Oh, um, Lydia, sorry, this is Gigi, a friend I met in San Francisco. Gigi, this is my younger sister Lydia."

Gigi smiled brightly and waved in a greeting, "Hey, Lydia, it's nice to meet you."

Lydia gave Gigi a weak smile and said, "Yeah, you, too."

"So, um," said Lizzie, treading carefully with the conversation, "Are mom and dad back yet?"

"Yeah, dad's in his office and mom's upstairs meditating."

"Of course she is," muttered Lizzie. "Well, uh, since Gigi and Charlotte are in town, we were thinking about going to Carter's tonight if you were interested…."

Charlotte added quickly, "But if you if you're not up for going out or anything, that's fine, too."

Lydia remained silent for a moment, looking back at the television before responding, "You know, I think I'll like that." Lydia paused, and then an attempt to sound like her usual self, she added, "You know, because I know my nerdy older sister needs my adorbs to help her find some hot, man-cake action."

Lizzie was too shocked at Lydia's response to take umbrage to it. "Okay…well, great. We're probably going to head out around eight-thirty if you want to join. But if you change your mind, that's fine, too."

Lydia nodded, and returned her attention to the television. After a conversation that went better than expected, Lizzie decided to walk Charlotte and Gigi back out to the car.

Once outside by the car, Lizzie spoke first, "Okay, that was weird, right? I mean, I thought I would be lucky to talk to her, let alone get her to come out to Carter's tonight. I mostly expected her to still be in denial about the whole thing."

Charlotte nodded. "Well, people grieve in different ways, so let's not question it too much. She calls the shots, although I hope for the sake of all of us, not in the literal sense. So we'll meet you back here at eight-thirty?"

Lizzie nodded once in reply, "Yep, sounds good. Now let me see if I get my mother stop meditating with the creepy seahorses for two seconds so I can get ready."

Gigi and Charlotte laughed. They got into the car and left, leaving a very puzzled Lizzie Bennet in their wake.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was far easier to write than the last one. As always, thanks to all of you for your lovely reviews. I do want to raise a quick point about this chapter. Just for the record, I doubt Lydia realistically would go out to Carter's after the trauma of the previous two days. Going by canon, Lydia's latest tweets clearly show she's still in denial about all of it…poor Lydia. However, this part is not canon, so just keep that in mind. I swear, there's a method to the madness. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Jack is back! And as always, I don't own P&P or LBD.**

Ch. 7

Jack shifted on his barstool at Carter's, sipping a Sierra Nevada while watching the Saturday night Warriors-Suns game on television. He could care less about the game, but it was something to do. Jack hated milling around, waiting, constrained by Darcy's request to keep the Bennets ignorant of his interference. If something didn't happen tonight, however, Darcy's rules were going out the window.

* * *

_Two days before…_

After Jack left Pemberley Digital on Thursday, he went through the normal drill that he did for each case. Jack's business practices were somewhat unorthodox, but it suited his needs perfectly. Until five years ago, Jack ran his private investigator business solo in an office in downtown San Francisco, not having the extra expenses for staff. As his reputation grew and demands on his time increased, he deemed it necessary to make some changes. However, the tight economy still restrained his small business, so he decided to embrace the advantages of modern technology. He got rid of his office space, especially since he rarely spent time there in the first place. He hired a part-time secretary, who worked from her own home to handle phone calls and e-mails from potential clients when he was in the middle of other cases. They still met regularly in person to organize business affairs, but usually most matters could be resolved via phone, e-mail, or a quick Skype video call.

Jack also had a group of loyal contacts whom he could count on when he needed help on cases. He didn't have the capital to keep a full-time research staff, so he hired people on an as needed basis. While this procedure would be considered insane among many, this method actually was the secret to Jack's success. By paying on commission, he ensured that he got the best experts he needed when he needed them.

Heading back to his home office, Jack first contacted his secretary, Susan, asking her to send the contact over to Mr. Darcy and to inform her that he would be busy with the case until at least February 14. When he arrived at his home office, he went straight to work at his workstation that had desktop PC with dual monitors. On one monitor, he started up Lydia Bennet's vlogs from the beginning, while on the other, he started reviewing the website, the information Darcy gave him, and any other information he could dig up on George Wickham. Jack soon realized that the IP address information Darcy provided was a bit over his head, so he contacted Steve, his go-to Silicon Valley IT expert, to see what additional information he could trace from the website or other social media. He also sent a preliminary e-mail over to Chris, a retired cop who currently lived in Las Vegas. Darcy's intel about George and Lydia's New Years' activities were not much to go on, and Jack himself knew he had no time to search through the million possible places they could have been in Vegas. But Jack was confident that if anyone could track down specific sins in Vegas, Chris could do it.

While firing off e-mails and calls to his contacts, Jack was only half-listening to Lydia's summer vlogs. The whole playlist was less than an hour, and the more information he had on all parties involved, the better. He had some basic information about Lydia from Darcy, of course, but it was clear to Jack that Darcy knew very little about the youngest Bennet. He quickly saw Lydia's vivacious personality and partying tendencies, but nothing too malicious or disturbing…just a typical 20-year old college kid. Jack was amused by her antics with her cousin, Mary, and later on, with her sister, Jane. Although Lydia mentioned her other sister, Lizzie, Jack never saw her in any of Lydia's vlogs. However, according to Lydia, Lizzie had her own vlogs. Jack kept switching between tasks until Episode 16, when his attention was diverted completely to Lydia's video.

"OMG, Darcy is in love with Lizzie!" exclaimed Lydia, collapsing into a fit of hysterical laughter. "I so did not see that one coming—"

Jack raised an eyebrow, and chuckled. "Figures," he muttered to himself. After Lydia switched topics back to school, he pulled up another window and skimmed through Lizzie Bennet's YouTube channel, noting that Lizzie's vlogs were older, more popular, and more frequent than Lydia's vlogs, although it did appear that Lydia was in a number of those videos as well. Jack sighed, realizing that his YouTube research was going to take up more of his afternoon than he originally thought.

* * *

On Friday morning, Jack left San Francisco, driving south to the Bennets' hometown outside Fresno. However, he had little luck tracking down Lydia. Jack first went Lydia's college campus, chatting with random students to see if they knew Lydia. Jack didn't learn anything new from his inquires, except that Lydia attended her literature class yesterday afternoon, but skipped her Friday morning biology lecture.

Knowing Lydia frequented Carter's bar, Jack went there Friday evening in the hopes of finding her there. Initially, the bartender was annoyed that Jack slowly sipped one beer as he watched the Lakers game. He struck up a conversation with Jack, who explained that he wanted to go some place to watch the game, but still wanted to be able to drive back to his hotel. To pacify the bartender, Jack gave him a nice tip. The two men chatted throughout of the evening, Jack politely asking about the town and casually bringing up the Bennets. The bartender corroborated information Jack already knew, only adding that the last time he saw Lydia was the previous weekend with George Wickham. Jack returned the local Best Western on Friday night, frustrated that he had no luck running into Lydia.

Jack's search around town continued on Saturday without much progress. By the evening, Jack found himself back at Carter's bar, waiting for Lydia. His hopes weren't high, especially if Lydia's absence meant she was upset over recent events. The rest of the bar was practically deserted, an odd occurrence for a Saturday night. It seemed most people opted to stay home, due to a combination of damp weather and Super Bowl Sunday parties trumping Saturday evening plans. After Jack sat down, the bartender (the same one from the previous night) informed him that there was no sign of the Bennets yet.

Jack sighed in boredom as he took another swig from his beer. He pulled out his smartphone to check his e-mail and text messages. Behind him, he heard a small group enter the bar, and before he could turn around, the bartender remarked, "Well, it looks like you're in luck. There's two of the Bennets now. You want me to tell them you're here?"

"No, thanks," said Jack, quickly glancing over his shoulder than back to the bartender again. "I'll chat with them at halftime."

The bartender shrugged, and went over to Lizzie to take her order. The ladies chose seats conveniently within Jack's line of vision. He surveyed the group to see who was all there—Lydia, Lizzie, Charlotte Lu, and... _What is Gigi Darcy doing here?_ thought Jack. _This is going to be tricky._

The quartet chatted amicably for the first half-hour, and since the bar was quiet, Jack heard every word. In his opinion, the conversation and interaction seemed a bit forced, and Lydia clearly was not her usual exuberant self that he recognized from her videos. After a particularly long pause, Lizzie got up.

"So Lydia…do you want to play _Just Dance_ with me?" asked Lizzie. She added in a sweet tone, "You can pick the first song if you want."

Lydia shook her head, "No thanks…I'm not really in the mood."

Lizzie frowned, and turned to Charlotte, who also rose from her seat. "Uh, I'll join you Lizzie if you want…unless Gigi wants to go instead."

Gigi shook her head vigorously and said "Oh no, no way. I tried that game once and I'm lucky I didn't kill myself in the process. You guys go ahead, I'll stay here with Lydia."

As Jack watched the group split up, he noticed that Lizzie and Charlotte went off in the direction of the pool tables rather than the television with the Xbox Kinect. The other two ladies made small talk for a few minutes, until Lydia finished her drink and got up.

"I'm going up to the bar for another round, do you want anything?"

"No thanks," said Gigi, whose glass was still half-full. "I'm kinda a slow drinker."

Lydia nodded, and left Gigi at the table. Jack finished off the rest of his beer quickly and rose from his perch to meet Lydia.

"Hey there," said Jack, smiling warmly down at Lydia. "I'm Jack. I'm about to get another, so can I buy you a drink?"

Lydia averted her gaze from Jack and replied in a soft voice, "No, I'm good, thanks."

Jack wasn't going to give up that easily. "Are you sure? A pretty girl like you shouldn't have to worry about getting her own drinks."

Lydia looked at Jack briefly and replied, "Really, thanks, but no thanks."

Jack tried once again, "You just seem like a cool girl to talk to—"

But Jack was interrupted by the harsh tones from an irked Gigi Darcy. "Hey jerk, she said no. So back off."

Jack stepped back with his hands raised, addressing Gigi. "I meant no disrespect ladies, I was just trying to be nice. I'll leave you alone, you have my word."

Jack moved away from Gigi and Lydia do a different barstool on the other side of the bar. He was technically closer their table, but this time, his back was facing away from them as not to antagonize the wrath of the younger Darcy.

"Everything all right over there?" called Lizzie from the pool table.

"Yeah, fine!" answered Gigi, who merely glared over at Jack.

After the bartender gave Lydia her drink, he went over to Jack to take his order. But before asking what he wanted, the bartender asked in a quiet voice, "I thought you said you knew the Bennets. What was that about?"

Jack cleared his throat and replied calmly. "I met them briefly at the Gibson wedding last April. I met Lydia there later in the evening, but I guess she doesn't remember me. She was three sheets to wind at that time if you know what I mean."

The bartender gave Jack a cautious look for a moment, but he didn't question him any further. "I remember hearing about that wedding, and that does sound like her. Lord knows I've seen her drink her fair share over the last couple of years. All right, another Sierra Nevada for you?"

Jack nodded, and pulled out his phone again, this time placing it on the bar. He pretended to be watching the game again, but his attention was focused primarily on the conversation behind him.

"—I mean the nerve of some people," finished Gigi, who was clearly still ranting about Jack.

"He was trying to be nice," said Lydia, "but I just don't want to deal with guys right now, you know?"

Gigi's anger seemed to fade with Lydia's response. "I can understand that. I actually hoped that I could talk to you one-on-one tonight. You see—"

However, Lydia interrupted her "You dated George. Yeah, I know."

Gigi was stunned. "How did you—?" started Gigi, but Lydia interrupted her again.

"I heard you guys this morning when you were bringing in Lizzie's stuff. When you went into the den, I listened from the top of the stairs."

"Oh," said Gigi softly. "I'm sorry that we were talking about you behind your back. We were just worried about you."

"Yeah, I know," mumbled Lydia, looking down. She looked back up at Gigi and continued. "And don't worry about it. It was good, I guess. I heard you mention that you used to date George, and that you and Lizzie made a video about it. So it wasn't that hard for me to find out."

Gigi nodded, taken aback by the turn of events. "Well, I didn't really expect our conversation to start out like this, that's for sure."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Lydia said in a soft voice, "God, I just feel so stupid. I loved him, I truly loved him."

Gigi nodded, "Yeah, I know. And that feeling won't ever go away, I'm afraid. At least not entirely. He told me that he loved me, that he would rather die than be with anyone else. He also pushed me to keep everything from William because he wouldn't understand…that William would just pull us apart."

"Yeah…" said Lydia, her voice trailing off. "That sounds familiar. But he didn't put up a sex tape for the whole freaking internet to see."

Gigi looked at Lydia with pity. "No, he didn't. His goal with me was to go after my inheritance. I think he wanted me to elope with him without a pre-nup. And back then, I probably would have done it if he had asked. But even I never thought he would stoop this low."

Lydia looked down at her hands for a moment before responding, in a somewhat harsher tone than before. "Yeah, well, he did. I still can't believe the message he sent to be Thursday."

Gigi raised her eyebrows, "I didn't realize he contacted you."

Lydia replied with a hollow laugh that didn't suit her. "Oh yeah, he did. He sent me a private Twitter message." Lydia looked up toward the ceiling for a moment to regain composure before rattling of the message from memory. "It said, 'Hey babe. I needed the money, and you'll become more famous. It's been great, but it's time for me to move on. No hard feelings, right?' And he finished it off with a winkey-face.'"

Gigi shook her head in anger, "That prick."

Lydia sighed, and shook her head. "I just feel idiotic and numb. I've gone through so many emotions the past few days that I just can't feel anything anymore. Part of me still doesn't believe it, but that damn countdown just brings me right back to reality."

Gigi said nothing, not knowing what to say at this point. Lydia stirred her straw in her drink and added, "Well, it's too late now anyways."

Gigi said firmly, "No, it's not." Lydia scoffed, but Gigi added, "I'm serious, Lydia, don't give up."

looked up in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Gigi replied, "I don't know the details, but I know William is trying to stop this."

"Darcy?" responded Lydia, surprised. "Why the hell would he want to help me? I'm just Lizzie's 'energetic' younger sister," explained Lydia, using air quotes. After pausing for a second, she added, "Unless…." Lydia looked over at Lizzie, who was still playing pool with Charlotte.

Gigi followed her gaze and said, "Yes, I think that's part of it, but he also feels responsible. He thinks that he should have warned you about George and let Lizzie warn you about what he did to me in the past."

"That's stupidest thing I've ever heard," said Lydia, bluntly. "And that includes all the ramblings of Ricky Collins I heard months ago."

Gigi smiled and shrugged. "That's William. Logical most of the time, but exceptionally illogical when mushy feelings are involved." Gigi paused, then added, "Anyways, do you have any idea where George is now? Did he tell you before he left? Any information could help William, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah," said Lydia, thinking back to the previous week. "He said he was visiting a buddy from school. Pratt, I think it was."

"Travis Pratt?" asked Gigi.

"Yeah, that's him. He said he was going to be in the L.A. area this week visiting him."

"Great, I'll pass along the information to William," said Gigi.

"He really loves her, doesn't he?" asked Lydia.

"Yeah, he does," said Gigi with a sad smile. "He wanted to take her to the Herbst Theatre to see the latest adaptation of _Anna Karenina_."

Lydia sighed, looking over at Lizzie again, "She would have loved that."

"Hey, don't blame yourself for all of this," admonished Gigi. "Everything will work out, okay?"

Lydia nodded, but did not reply. A few minutes later, Charlotte and Lizzie returned to their table to check-in on Lydia and Gigi.

"Actually," said Lydia, "if you guys don't mind, I want to head home."

"That's okay, Lydia," said Lizzie. "It's no problem at all."

"Fine by me," added Gigi. "And you guys don't have to worry about me. I can take a cab back to the Best Western from here instead of you guys driving out of your way."

"Nonsense," said Charlotte. "It's just five minutes from here, it isn't any trouble at all."

As the girls gathered their jackets and belongings, Jack moved quickly. Having already paid his tab, he waved goodbye to the bartended and left Carter's bar. He drove a bit faster than normal, but arrived at the Best Western before the other car did. Jack waited in the lobby for less than five minutes before Gigi Darcy came strolling in.

"Exceuse me, Miss Darcy," called Jack, getting up from the bench he was sitting on.

Gigi spun in confusion, first looking at the reception desk before turning to Jack. "Do I know you?" Then, a look of dawning comprehension showed on her face, "Wait, you're the jackass from the bar."

"Actually, I'm just Jack," quipped Jack, who continued in a lower voice, "But I'm here because your brother asked me to help your friends you were with tonight."

Gigi's face went from annoyance at seeing Jack to confusion from his cryptic message. Then, she looked at Jack in surprise, asking in a whisper, "You're the P.I.?"

Jack looked over at the reception desk, which had one bored employee who was working on the computer. He turned back to Gigi and nodded, adding, "I think we should talk briefly somewhere a little less open." Gigi nodded, and Jack steered them around the corner to the fitness room, which was empty at this time of night.

Jack turned to face Gigi and said, "So let me introduce myself properly. My name is Jack Stewart." He extended his hand to Gigi, who shook it. "Your brother, William, asked me to help him track down George Wickham."

Gigi nodded, and replied "Sorry I interfered tonight. I didn't know—William hasn't updated me about what has been going on."

Jack smiled at the younger Darcy, waving off her concerns. He replied, "No worries, you didn't know. And actually, you did me a huge favor tonight. Miss Lydia there was rather anti-male at the moment, not that I blame her. You at least were able to talk to her and get some information from her."

"You heard about Travis?"

Jack pulled out his smartphone and pulled up his notes, showing the screen to Gigi. "Yep. Travis Pratt. Do you know him?"

"Yeah, he went to UCLA with George, well, at least the year that George actually went to UCLA. Studied philosophy, I think. The last I saw or heard of him was a few years ago."

"Do you know where he is?" asked Jack, who was adding this information to his phone.

Gigi shook her head, "No. He only came by my condo once, and that was it. I had the impression that he and George weren't the closest of friends."

Jack sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket, "Well, a lead is better than no leads. Thanks for your help, Miss Darcy."

Gigi smiled and replied, "No problem. And call me Gigi."

"Well, Gigi," said Jack. "If you can check-in with Lydia again this week, please see whether she can tell you anything else that could help. I would appreciate it." Gigi nodded, and Jack added, "Oh, and the next time you speak to her, please ask her not to inform Lizzie about your brother's assistance."

Gigi furrowed her brows in confusion, "Why?"

"Special request from your brother. Would have saved me a day if I could have gone to the Bennet household directly," grumbled Jack in annoyance, "but he didn't want Lizzie or her family to know he was helping."

Gigi chuckled, "Sounds like William. He's willing to be the knight in shining armor, just as long as he doesn't take the credit for it. I swear….." After thinking for a moment, she added, in a worried tone, "Oh, he's going to be so pissed at me. He told me to stay out of this whole mess yesterday..." Gigi's voice trailed off.

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Good to know, thanks for heads up. If your brother's temper is like yours, I may have to resort to self-defense. But don't worry, I'll take care of it."

Gigi smiled sheepishly. Jack pulled out his wallet and gave Gigi a card, "Now, here's my number if you have more info for me. I don't give a damn if William Darcy forbids it. You know Wickham well, and the area he might be hiding. But I'll try to convince him of that view when I meet him tomorrow."

Gigi breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, I will. And thanks."

Jack nodded. The two left the fitness center, with Gigi going right and Jack going left. As Jack walked back to his room, he sent a quick message to Darcy, instructing him to meet him tomorrow afternoon in L.A.

**A/N: Long chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. I wanted to give you a full picture of what Jack was up to, and that took a while. As for the adorbs, she was subdued, but it is part of the stages of grief. Anyways, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story. I know I am, hence the quick updates. **


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own P&P or LBD.**

Ch. 8

Jack arrived at the sports bar in West Hollywood at 3pm. As expected, it was packed with eager fans waiting for the Super Bowl to kickoff in thirty minutes. Jack himself donned his old Jerry Rice jersey for the occasion to blend in with the crowd (and support his hometown team). After entering the bar, he scanned the room for Darcy, which did not take long. When Jack approached Darcy's table, he looked down at his client and asked, "What in the hell are you wearing?"

Darcy looked up at Jack, adjusting his thick-rimmed glasses surprise. Darcy thought he was wearing "casual" as Jack requested—a fitted horizontal-striped crimson and black hoodie, dark wash skinny jeans, converse sneakers, and a crimson knitted hat.

"This is casual attire," remarked Darcy.

"Yeah, but we're at a sports bar, not an Arcade Fire concert," said Jack, sitting down. "And what's up with that hat?"

Darcy glared back at Jack. "My mother knitted it for me after I decided to attend Harvard."

Jack sighed, "Well, no disrespect, but you look like an idiot. It's over 70 degrees outside—ditch the hat."

Darcy looked at Jack mutinously for a moment, but did as he was asked, removing his hat and smoothing out his hair.

"Better," remarked Jack. "Sorry, the last thing we need is to draw attention to ourselves here. But the Clark Kent look makes you harder to recognize, I'll give you that."

Darcy nodded. "And why exactly did you want to meet at a sports bar during the Super Bowl rather than a coffee shop somewhere?"

Jack shrugged, "No one will pay attention to us or even hear us in this crowd—all attention will be on the game and commercials. Way less likely to be overheard."

"Good point, I had not considered that," replied Darcy. "So did you have any luck with Lydia?"

"Yes, but I'll get to that in a moment," answered Jack, nodding toward a waitress approaching their table.

"Can I get you gentlemen anything?" she asked in a chipper tone.

"I'll have a Corona, please" said Jack with a smile.

"I'll have a PBR," added Darcy.

The waitress smiled and walked off. Jack raised the palm of his right hand and placed it against his forehead. "God, you seriously are a walking stereotype," groaned Jack.

Darcy just glowered at Jack, who shook his head and turned his attention to the pre-game coverage. The two men waited in silence until the waitress returned with their drinks.

"Cheers," said Jack, then took a sip of his beer. He continued, "Okay, you go first. How have things been here the last couple of days?"

Darcy sighed in frustration. "Things have not gone well. I checked the places George used to frequent around the UCLA campus—the bars, the gym, and so on—but to no avail."

"Well," said Jack, "your information is a bit dated now. I mean, his one-year stint was several years ago. And I know that by my mid-twenties, I wouldn't go back to the places I went at eighteen."

"I surmised as much," replied Darcy, dryly.

"Well, to answer your question about Lydia Bennet," started Jack, "I did run into her last night at Carter's. Although I must say, she was very dejected. Not her normal _energetic_ self."

Darcy ignored Jack's choice of words and asked, "So you were able to talk with her?"

Jack took his time before answering. He sipped his beer, briefly turning his head to the television to see the game start. A cheer of excitement went up around the bar. "Not exactly," said Jack.

Darcy narrowed his eyes. "I thought you said you got information from her."

"Oh, I did," replied Jack. "But young Lydia was not in the mood to talk to courting gentlemen, and she wasn't alone at the bar. When I tried to talk to her, your sister stopped me. Gave me a piece of her mind while she was at it, too."

Darcy's shot eyes up in surprise. "Gigi! What was she doing there?" he exclaimed in a slightly raised voice. Fortunately, everyone within earshot was focused too much on the game to care.

"Keep it down," muttered Jack. "And I don't know exactly why she was in town, but she was there. A damn good thing for us, too."

Darcy raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Gigi was able to reach out to Lydia when I couldn't. Two ladies hurt by the same guy…you can see that they were able to connect on that level."

Darcy nodded, and then sighed, "Yes, I suppose. I apologize for my reaction, but I just told Gigi on Friday morning not to get involved."

"And she promptly ignored you," chimed Jack. "I get it—the whole protective big brother thing. But trust me, the fact that she was with George only a few years ago makes her a huge asset right now, one we can't afford to ignore."

"Very well," said Darcy, conceding to the logic behind Jack's point. After a moment, Darcy added in a stern voice. "But she's not coming down here."

"We'll see," replied Jack, coolly. "Your conditions forbidding me to talk directly to the Bennets already cost me a day, a day we can't afford to waste I might add. But we'll only involve Gigi if we have no other options."

Darcy nodded, leaned back in his seat and sipped his PBR. Jack surveyed Darcy more closely.

"No offense, but you look like shit," said Jack, bluntly.

"I thought we already established that," replied Darcy, somewhat annoyed.

Jack chortled. "Not your hipster attire, but you physically. You look exhausted. How much sleep have you been getting?"

Darcy shifted in his seat, and replied tersely, "Enough."

"Not buying it," said Jack. "After we go over our plan for tomorrow, you go back to where you're staying and sleep. I don't need a tired, cranky sidekick."

"Very well," replied Darcy, not brothering to argue. "Let's get back to the point—what did Lydia tell you?"

"She said that George contacted her via Twitter on Thursday, confirming that he needed cash and was trying to increase her fame. My guess is that he used Twitter to make it harder to trace. By the tone of Gigi and Lydia's conversation, it was clear that George did not get Lydia's consent for the video."

"Figures," muttered Darcy, "And that doesn't surprise me. Anything else?"

Jack nodded and continued, "She said that George was supposedly staying with a buddy from school, a guy named Travis Pratt. I talked to your sister about him briefly, and she said that she met him once at her condo. Said he went to UCLA with Wickham and studied philosophy. I did a little googling last night, which turned up a LinkedIn page that matches the information we have. Apparently, Mr. Pratt works as a barista at a small locally owned café in Orange County."

Darcy snorted, "I suppose that is one way to use a philosophy degree."

Jack shrugged, "A job is a job, especially in this economy. Anyways, I figured we can try to track down Mr. Pratt tomorrow afternoon after we take care of some other business in the morning."

Darcy raised an eyebrow, "What do you have planned in the morning?"

Jack continued, "Well, Mr. Pratt is one lead, but Gigi had the impression that he was not close with Wickham. My other lead came on Friday, when my IT guy was able to trace the company that is helping Wickham distribute the tape."

Darcy nodded, "Yes, a company called Novelty Exposures."

Jack raised his eyebrows, "Yes…and either you have more interest in the porn industry than I thought, or you didn't give me a full update."

Darcy shrugged, "I was going to inform you by the end of this meeting if you did not mention it. And for the record, my associate, Fitz, had some contacts look into the site as well and passed along the information to me this morning."

"So you were testing me?" asked Jack in a sharp voice.

Darcy shook his head and replied, "No, not exactly. I find that when exploring solutions to problems in my company, it is ideal to have two independent teams try to tackle the problem to see if they can reach the same conclusions or have alternative options. You had your IT contacts, I had mine. And earlier I thought you were only inquiring into my activities in L.A., and I assumed we would get to this website shortly."

Another cheer went up at the bar, and Jack muttered, "Damn, Ravens scored." Turning back to Darcy, Jack sighed and replied, "Fine, I guess that makes some sense. Anyways, as I said, Steve, my IT guy, tipped me off on Friday. I called the company up Friday afternoon and made an appointment with a Ms. Younge. Apparently she is some former porn star turned industry exec. We meet her tomorrow in Van Nuys at 9:30am."

Darcy sipped his beer and replied, "What exactly is the meeting to discuss? I doubt we can march in there and inquire about George."

Jack chuckled, "No, privacy is a big deal in that industry. She won't help us there. But if we meet as a new start-up company inquiring into their distribution practices, we might be able to get some more information about who is behind the website. Based on my impression of George Wickham, he isn't the nerdy CS major type. He must have had help launching that site in the first place, and maybe Ms. Younge can give us that contact."

Darcy looked off into space, pondering the information that Jack just said. "Hmm…I suppose that makes sense. So tomorrow, we are engaging in an undercover operation of sorts?"

Jack laughed in earnest, "I guess so. Just don't come wearing a Dick Tracey outfit or anything. Get some normal fitting jeans, and wear one of your work shirts—just don't tuck it in and leave the top button undone. Keep the glasses. That's all I meant before when I asked you to dress casual."

Darcy had a mental image of Bing's usual attire. "I can do that. But should we also have different names? I would rather not have my personal information tied back to a company that produces pornographic materials."

"Already ahead of you there," replied Jack. "And I don't like to use my real name either, especially since my reputation has grown the last few years. So here, I made these before I left San Francisco."

Jack passed Darcy a small stack of business cards. Darcy picked one up and read it aloud, "Thomas Sloane, Co-founder and Exec. VP of Peak District Unlimited," he rolled his eyes and glared at Jack, "You must be joking."

"Hey, we have to play the part right? And I thought that company name was rather clever," replied Jack with a smirk.

Darcy shook his head and replied, "What do your cards say?"

"I'll be going by Kevin Thompson, and I'm the CEO of our little enterprise. I figured this way, I could be the spotlight of most of the questioning."

Darcy nodded, "Very well, and I have no objections to that."

"Great!" said Jack, "And also it looks like we got a field goal, yes!" briefly turning back to the game.

"So that's it for now?" asked Darcy, finishing off his beer.

"Yeah, there's no point trying to track anyone down tonight, and we can't move forward on our leads until tomorrow. We'll meet Ms. Younge in the morning then go south to Orange County to track down Mr. Pratt. I'll also follow up on my contacts to see if they've found anything else."

Darcy nodded, and pulled out some money from his wallet and placed it on the table. "I think this should cover everything. I'll see you tomorrow morning then?"

Jack nodded, "And get some rest. I'm sure we still have a long ways to go this week, and if you are going to be any help, I need you alert."

Darcy gave Jack a curt nod and left the bar. Jack remained seated at the table, deciding to stay and enjoy the remaining three quarters left in the game.

**A/N: Done! A lot of dialogue this chapter, but the guys needed to get on the same page. Thanks again for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry everyone! I didn't mean to keep you hanging for a week, but work interferes with life sometimes. Anyways, I hope this chapter is worth the wait. As always, I don't own P&P or LBD.**

Ch. 9

Darcy pulled his Honda Civic rental into the parking garage Monday morning around 9am. He knew he was early, but he figured it would give him time to watch Lizzie's video before their meeting. He knew it had only been a few days since she left, but Darcy missed her. He had moved her note about the apartment keys from his jacket to his wallet. From time to time, he would take it out and re-read it just to have some connection with her.

After watching her latest video (Ep. 85), part of him wished he waited until later to watch it. Although it was heart-wrenching to see Lizzie's reaction last week, it paled by comparison to Lydia's shocked denial. It gave him too many flashbacks to a sister he had to console not that long ago….

After watching the video on his phone in the car, Darcy left the parking garage and headed toward the Starbucks across the street from Novelty Expressions.

"Mornin' Tom," greeted Jack, who was leaning against a brick wall next to Starbucks. He surveyed Darcy's attire. Darcy was still wearing the glasses, but he donned a pair of dark wash boot cut jeans, a baby blue button-down dress shirt that was untucked and unbuttoned at the top, showing a white undershirt. "Glad to see you made it early, and that you listened to my advice from yesterday."

"Good morning…Kevin," Dary replied with a slight pause, reminding himself of the cards from the previous day. "And yes, I do listen to feedback. Oh, and just to inform you, there was an update this morning—"

Jack cut Darcy off before he said too much in public. "Yes, I'm aware. I made sure to follow the girls on Twitter, so I'm in the loop."

Darcy nodded and glanced across the street to their destination. "Well, we are still twenty minutes early, shall we remain here or enter the premises now?"

Jack shrugged, "Going now isn't a bad idea, makes a better impression. Manners go a long way in any crowd."

Darcy and Jack entered Novelty Expressions. Jack took out his smartphone again to recall the directions to Ms. Younge's office. A couple of minutes later, they arrived at a secretary's station that was situated just outside her office. A tired-looking secretary was sipping on her grande Starbucks coffee when they arrived.

"Good morning," said Jack. "My name's Kevin Thompson, and this is Thomas Sloane, and we're here for a 9:30 appointment."

The secretary raised her eyebrows, "Yes, I remember your call, but I thought there would only be one person meeting with Ms. Younge."

Jack waved her off, "Oh, I apologize if I was misleading you, but we both would really like to be there for this meeting."

The secretary frowned, looking over the schedule, "Well, Ms. Younge can make the final call. She's booked almost all day today. She should be here in a few minutes…she's normally a little slow coming in Monday mornings, you see."

Jack chuckled and gave the secretary a charming smile, "Yes, I can understand that."

The secretary shifted some paperwork on her desk, grabbing two clipboards and giving one to each Darcy and Jack.

"Please fill these out. Standard protocol—we like to keep track of all meetings we have here."

Darcy, who remained silent during the conversation, jumped in suddenly, "Is this really necessary?"

The secretary glared at him, "No form, no meeting."

Jack smiiled again, "Not a problem, right buddy? Come on, this should only take a few minutes."

Darcy and Jack grabbed their respective clipboards and took a seat in the waiting area out of earshot from the secretary. Darcy scanned the form before starting, and abruptly turned to Jack, and whispered "This must be a joke."

Jack smirked and replied in a whisper, "This happens. Don't worry, just reference the cards and improvise the rest."

Darcy grimaced, but continued. His basic name and address he was able to gather from the cards, and he was able to make up a birthday, but some of the questions, such as "erotica interests" made him rather uncomfortable. Jack glanced over at him when he was done, and whispered, "Chill out and stop blushing." Darcy just nodded, and took some meditating breaths to relax before their meeting.

Five minutes later, the sound of heels made both Jack and Darcy turn their heads. A tall woman with long, platinum blonde hair and a very tight-fitting, low-cut black dress strode into the waiting area. After a cursory glance to Jack and Darcy, she turned to her secretary, who greeted her. "Good morning, Ms. Younge. Mr. Thompson here had an appointment at 9:30," she paused, indicating Jack, who waved to Ms. Younge in reply. "However, he has a friend here with him for the meeting, too."

Ms Younge glanced back over at Darcy, replying, "No, its fine, Melissa, thank you. Well gentlemen, come on in."

Darcy gave Jack a quick glance before getting up from his seat and following Jack into Ms. Younge's office. After entering, the two men headed toward the seats, but Ms. Younge stopped them.

"Now wait a minute, boys, let me have a good look at you," she said. She then walked over to Darcy and Jack to take their forms, only glancing at the paperwork briefly. She then turned her full attention to them, walking around both of them briefly. Darcy gave Jack a questioning look, but Jack only merely shrugged his confusion in reply.

Ms. Younge addressed Jack first, "Now, you, Mr. Thompson," she glanced down at his form. "You were the one who made this meeting, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Jack courteously.

"While you do look _fabulous_ for your age, honey, I simply cannot use you. You are far too old, and you can see it once those cameras get right up into your eyes. We might be able to use you for a double for our prudish actors, but that's probably about it."

Jack raised his eyebrows, and quickly replied, "No, but—"

However, Ms. Younge steamrolled on, ignoring Jack's retort. She strode over to Darcy. "Now your friend, Blue Eyes over here…I can work with him. Just give him a tight fitting shirt to show off those muscles he's hiding, and maybe a pair of leather pants to show off that delicious ass of his." Ms. Younge sat down at her desk and asked Darcy directly, "Have you worked in porn before, dear? I have the perfect girl to pair you up with that we're casting for right now."

Darcy blushed crimson during Ms. Younge's whole speech, giving Jack an alarmed look. However, as Jack was fighting the urge to laugh, Darcy spluttered, "No…no, we're not here for that."

Ms. Younge raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I'm sorry, honey, were you interested in our roles for gay men? We don't discriminate or anything here."

Jack laughed in earnest this time, and after Darcy glared at him, he replied, "No, we are not auditioning for any roles."

Jack struggled to calm down, but with a final chuckle elaborated, "No, Ms. Younge, we're here as developers of our own business, not as actors."

"Oh!" said Ms. Younge in surprise. "Sorry, I just assumed."

Jack continued to chuckle and waved her off, "No problem, ma'am, I suppose I should have been more clear when making my appointment on Friday." Jack pulled out a business card and handed it to Ms. Younge, ignoring the disgruntled look Darcy was giving him. Jack continued, "No, Tom here is a business associate of mine trying to start-up our own little enterprise. We're meeting with different execs to get a footing into the industry."

Ms. Younge sipped her coffee, and replied, "Okay, honey, I see. Although why I should help you, a possible competitor, is a bit confusing to me."

Darcy, who had regained his composure at this point, cleared his throat. "Our second quarter projections are nowhere near your bottom line, trust me. We are just making industry contacts to ensure we implement the best practices for our customers, particularly with regard to confidentiality. Besides, I believe the adult entertainment industry generally thrives as there is, as you say, something for everyone."

Jack gave Darcy an appreciative look, and Ms. Younge remained thoughtful, "Yes, Blue Eyes, I guess you're not here just for your looks."

Darcy tried—and failed—not to blush again. Ms. Younge continued, "Well, I can't promise to tell you everything we do here, we do like to keep some company secrets. I think you boys can appreciate that."

Jack smiled, "Of course. No, we only came to ask about your distribution methods. You seem to have an effective means of showcasing your newest products. For example," Jack pulled out his phone and brought up the webpage with Lydia and Wickham. "This one seems to be working quite well. Simple, to the point. Also, I must say, adding a countdown was an interesting marketing ploy."

Ms. Younge smiled, recognizing the site from Jack's phone. "Yes, dear, that was a rather surprising acquisition that came here last week. Even online celebrities can draw in some real cash, you know?"

Jack nodded. "So do you have a web designer here who helps put these ads online?"

Ms. Younge shook her head, "No, we don't keep anyone full-time. We have a contractor out of Orange County who helps us. I can give you his contact information if you like, although if you take him away from me, I'll be very upset."

Jack was quick to reassure her, "No, ma'am, we already have a web guy. He's just new to working in this industry. We are talking to a few other companies in the industry you know, and we're trying to see what works best. We have no reason to give ourselves a bad rep right from the starting gate. More than likely, we'll take a combination of ideas from different places and make it our own."

Ms. Younge nodded, and pulled up the web designer's contact info. "Hear you go, honey," she said after writing it down a post-it note. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No ma'am," replied Jack. "I know you're a busy lady, and I appreciate you meeting with us so early."

Ms. Younge smiled, and she pulled out a business card of her own and handed it to Darcy. "In case your little start-up doesn't work out, honey, you're welcome back here anytime."

Darcy decided not to debate the matter, taking the card and nodding his thanks. He briefly looked at Jack, who was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. The bid farewell to Ms. Younge and walked out of her office.

Darcy and Jack left Novelty Expressions in silence. Once they were across the street by Starbucks, Jack turned to Darcy and, grinning again, remarked, "So can I start calling you Blue Eyes now?"

Darcy closed his eyes, "No."

Jack gave a hearty laugh, "Oh come on, even you got to admit that was funny. It is nice to know you have a fallback plan, in case that whole CEO thing doesn't work out."

"Are you done yet?" asked Darcy, exasperated.

"Hey, you never know with this economy. Besides, I'm stuck being a butt double for some guy…now I know how Joey felt on _Friends_."

Darcy sighed in annoyance. "Did you setup the meeting like that on purpose?"

"No, I swear I didn't," said Jack earnestly. "I had no idea she still saw auditions—I thought she was too high level for that. But I suppose she enjoys some good eye candy like the next lady."

Darcy groaned in mortification, covering his face with his hand. Jack snickered before continuing, "Well, it was a good thing you were there, then. I might have been unable to get in and get that info without your blue eyes there to help."

Darcy rolled his eyes, and mutely started walking back to the parking garage, Jack in tow.

Jack started again in a more serious tone. "Well, at least our leads both are pointing in the same direction. I suggest you pack up from wherever you're staying and we should get a hotel in the Orange County area. Better to be local if he's there."

Darcy nodded. "Yes, I was thinking the same thing. Although, I do have access to my sister's condo…it was where she lived with him when she attended USC. Frankly, I would rather not stay there, but that is an option."

Jack thought for a moment, "No, Wickham knows that place and it might tip him off if he is half-expecting you to come after him. We'll just get a hotel."

The two men continued into the parking garage, when Darcy got a text and then a call from Gigi. After he hung up, Darcy turned to Jack, who stepped quietly away from him so he wouldn't be on camera.

"Did you catch all of that?" asked Darcy.

"Yep, although you could have been nicer to your sister after the help she's been giving us."

Darcy sighed. "I suppose. I guess I am a bit rattled after our meeting."

Jack chuckled again, "Yeah, that is one for the record books. I cannot wait to tell your Lizzie about that one."

Darcy looked at Jack in alarm. "No—you can't. Promise me."

Jack laughed at the look on Darcy's face, and replied, "Oh, that was worth it. All right, Scouts' honor," said Jack, holding up hand in a scout sign. "But you have to promise me whenever you marry Lizzie, I get a wedding invite and a dance with the bride."

Darcy raised his eyebrows. "What!? What makes you think that will ever happen?"

Jack chuckled, "I've seen the videos. All of them. And I've what you've been like the last few days. It is a sure bet, which says a lot since I'm not a betting man."

Jack started walking back to his car, paused, and turned back to Darcy. "I'm going back to my hotel. I'll meet you in the parking lot by Angel Stadium and we can figure out where to go from there."

Darcy just nodded mutely as Jack got into his car. Darcy sighed as he got into his own car, his head swimming with all the emotions and craziness that he had gone through that morning.

**A/N: I hope it was worth the wait…I've been imaging this chapter for a while now, and was eager to get it done. Oh, and thanks for all the reviews! Don't' worry, I'm still continuing with this story…I just may not update as often as I used to if my work remains as crazy as this week.**


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